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178 reviews for:
The Psychopath Inside: A Neuroscientist's Personal Journey into the Dark Side of the Brain
James Fallon
3.26 AVERAGE
178 reviews for:
The Psychopath Inside: A Neuroscientist's Personal Journey into the Dark Side of the Brain
James Fallon
3.26 AVERAGE
Not my favourite. But informative and well written.
The author is very unlikeable. Self centred and selfish, but I guess that’s the point.
The author is very unlikeable. Self centred and selfish, but I guess that’s the point.
I trudged through the book, mainly because I wanted to finish it. I didn't really care for it as I felt like the author was full of himself. Makes sense since he is a "prosocial psychopath" but still...glad it is over. Learned some interesting stuff, however. He is on top of his game as a neuroscientist.
dark
funny
informative
medium-paced
dark
informative
medium-paced
PRIMARILY INTERESTING BECAUSE OF HOW UNRELIABLE THE NARRATOR IS. THIS MAN THINKS HE IS HOT SHIT FOR COMING CURRENT TO THE TIMES WITH REGARDS TO NATURE VS NURTURE WHEN I LEARNED MORE ABOUT THAT ISSUE IN PSYCH 200. HIS CONCLUSION IS LITERALLY THAT HIS TYPE OF PSYCOPATH IS EVOLUTIONARILY NECESSARY. NAH BRO
ALSO RELATED: EVOPSYCH NEEDS TO STOP USING "MATE" WHEN DISCUSSING WOMEN HAVING SEX/PROCREATING
ALSO RELATED: EVOPSYCH NEEDS TO STOP USING "MATE" WHEN DISCUSSING WOMEN HAVING SEX/PROCREATING
challenging
informative
medium-paced
informative
reflective
Very interesting for much of its content - if I'd been the editor I might have suggested trimming a bit on the stories about the author's party-animal young life. Also, even though I probably have more background in brain science than average, I found some of the detail in the middle section dry and hard enough to follow that I sometimes had to go back and carefully re-read parts.
The thing that makes this book compelling is, first, the author's discovery, as a neuroscientist studying the brains of psychopaths, that his brain looked just like theirs on his scans; second, his long struggle coming to terms with this information about himself and slowly coming out of denial; and finally, his unflinchingly honest acceptance of his own internal reality along with his adaptation to it.
I knew about Dr. Fallon from having seen him on documentaries and wanted to read this as soon as I heard he'd written it, and I'm glad I did. Highly recommended.
The thing that makes this book compelling is, first, the author's discovery, as a neuroscientist studying the brains of psychopaths, that his brain looked just like theirs on his scans; second, his long struggle coming to terms with this information about himself and slowly coming out of denial; and finally, his unflinchingly honest acceptance of his own internal reality along with his adaptation to it.
I knew about Dr. Fallon from having seen him on documentaries and wanted to read this as soon as I heard he'd written it, and I'm glad I did. Highly recommended.
This was a fast read about a neurobiologist who discovers that his brain has many of the tendencies of a psychopath's brain. He is very honest about some of his less honorable traits, and some of his stories makes me glad that I do not know him. He's not a very pleasant person, and he is very full of himself (he identifies himself as a narcissist). But I thought the general discussion regarding psychopathy very interesting and scientifically illuminating.
God this book was awful. It would have been a DNF if it wasn't for book club. The author is both totally full of himself and totally full of shit. How are you going to have a science book all about the brain and not cite any sources???? Basically it's just a book about how great and smart and fun and accomplished he is, mixed in with a ton of brain science that's incomprehensible to me as a layperson. Easily one of the worst books I've ever read.